Singing the Dawn
by Savanna
Summary: Just how did Fawkes come to belong to Dumbledore, and what role did he play in the events that led to Lily and James death.


**Author's Note**: This is my go at a HP one-shot. For those of you waiting for Mind, all I can say is that I'm definitely thinking about it but I can't promise a new chapter. Real life is really taking a toll on my writing, plus I'm just not likely whatever I write. I'm blocked, but this is a hole in the wall. Perhaps there might be a sequel.

Singing The Dawn 

They say the battle lasted years. The torn fields were drenched in blood and the very air resounded with the cries of the dying and the grief stricken. And still the battle raged.

Until the day finally came when stillness fell on the fields, the wounded were collected and the pyres were built.

The dead were gathered together. The flames were built higher and hotter, then even hotter still until the mourners were driven back by the searing heat. 

They watched as the fires burned and wished for a rebirth. An end to the old, harsh memories. The fires burned away the pain that had so drenched their lives.

Slowly, in small groups, the people left. Moving on with their lives.

But that much concentrated emotion is magic itself. From the ashes of the pyres there was a shifting. The ashes were pushed aside, and from the remains of the past rose new life, new hope. A new beginning.

The first phoenix stretched it bright fire coloured wings, and sang softly. The sun rising in the east glinted on its bright feathers. Gradually its song grew, and then it was joined by another and another.

The phoenixes crept from the ashes, and raised their voices in song to the new dawn.  They sang of new beginnings, of rebirth and eternal hope.  

Then, one by one, they rose into the air, and separated. Going where they felt they would be needed the most.

Fawkes felt the call come after a burning day. He raised his head and blinked his eyes. His unfeathered body shook with the urge to answer the call. His young body was unprepared to answer the call, but he would come.

His feathers grew quickly as he waited for the time to take his first flight. He stayed hidden; knowing that capture would be the end of him as it had been for so many of his brothers and sister that had risen from the first ashes with him.

But the call could not be denied and when the time came to spread his wings and take flight once more, he sped towards the summons. 

The moon was shining brightly when he arrived. Yet his wings still shone with their own inner light. Cooing, he perched lightly on a nearby tree and peered at the fortress before him. 

Dark towers rose into the sky, a lake glinted in the moonlight, a shifting beneath the water an indication of life. Head cocked, Fawkes stared at this strange building that sang so strongly to him. Magic hummed in the very walls, the castle sang like a bird. It cried for hope, it sang of danger and despair to come. It welcomed Fawkes, and whispered to him. 

Taking wing, Fawkes fluttered to one of the many windows in the castle wall. A small boy slumbering in the bed nearest the window, his breathing deep and even. Fawkes stared at this young wizard and the castle hummed away, whispering of what was coming. As Fawkes perched, the young boy's brow wrinkled and he moaned. Fawkes chirped a light tune, and the brows smoothed out and the boy smiled. He blinked his eyes opened and stared at the bird perched on his window, his smile widened before his eyes slipped shut once more, and he fell back asleep.

Fawkes hopped from the sill and flung his wings out, soaring above the castle and, as the sun began to glint on the horizon, he opened his throat and sang. The castle silently joined him in his rejoicing. Then before the inhabitants of the castle could wake to see the vision soaring about their home, the phoenix winged his way into the forest.

He would be here to bring hope and when the time was right he would show himself and truly take part in bringing about the rebirth of hope. 

Time for a phoenix is an odd thing. Burning days came and went and the phoenix went on, he sang a welcome to the dawn each day, but was never seen by any of the inhabitants of the school.   

Then the day came that a young wizard returned to the school. Fawkes watched, as this wizard was welcomed to the school as a new teacher. Some days later the wizard wandered into the forest, and Fawkes watched, but stayed hidden. Later still the wizard returned at dawn one morning and stood on the hedge of the forest watching the sunrise. Fawkes landed lightly on the branch above his head, and as the first ray touched the horizon, sang out. The wizard was quiet and still and when Fawkes finished his greeting the wizard glanced up and, eyes glinting with youthful humour inclined his head and then returned to the school. 

More time passed with the sun. Turmoil hit the world and the castle's song turned sad as war raged. The wars dragged on, and the school was still and quiet as the teachers left to aid in the fighting and the children were kept home and safe.

Fawkes felt his sibling phoenixes come to aid, singing their song in secret to those most in need of it, but he stayed with the castle, knowing that his task had yet to come. 

Then the day arrived. The battles stilled, but all was not right yet. Soon the wizard arrived, older now, hair streaked with grey, but aglow with magic. Yet when the wizard stumbled into the woods, Fawkes fluttered his wings in sadness at the pain in those normally laughter-lit eyes. The wizard sank to the ground and stared into the air, and Fawkes could feel the painful memories biting at the wizard. Fawkes fluttered lightly to the ground in front of the wizard, but went unnoticed. Creeping closer, he lay his head on the wizard's outstretched legs, and began to sing softly deep in his throat.

Not a simple song to greet the dawn, but the song that every phoenix was born knowing. The one they sang when deep emotion dug it claws into them. He sang of laughter, and love. He sang of a mother rocking her child to sleep, he sang of children laughing in the sun. He trilled out the foxes frolicking in the open forest, and the wolves howling in the deep night. He crooned the sound of the wind whistling through the trees, and the waves lapping at the shore. He sang of magic, freedom, and hope. He sang of the rebirth of life. 

His song trilled to an end, and he raised his head. The wizard stared down at him, tears glinting in his eyes. But the song rang through him too, and the pain was crushed under the onslaught. The wizard smiled softly at the phoenix, and the smile touched his eyes banishing the last bit of darkness. 

Fawkes trilled one last time, and then took to the air; his wing beats rustled the wizard's hair, as he watched the phoenix fly into the sky.

Once again the school abounded with life, young wizards occupying every corner. Very little changed for the phoenix. A new tree was planted and a large wizard took up occupancy near the forest. But the teachers still taught and the students learned, and Fawkes relaxed in what was becoming his home. He flew around the castle turrets at night, winging through the sky with the bats. At dawn he would swoop over the lake to greet the squid as he sang out his welcome. He watched the students as they swooped through the air, on little pieces of wood. He was content.  

            He saw a few glimpses of the wizard, his hair now gone completely white. But the light was still in his eyes, and Fawkes could hear his song still ringing in his heart. 

            Then the dark returned. More painful then every before, even the dawns came grudgingly and sometimes were obscured by the dark smoke rising in the air. Terror sang in everybody hearts and Fawkes heard his sibling's songs wiped out whenever they wandered to close to the core of the darkness that attacked the world.   

            Once again the wizard took to visiting the forest. Yet, the song still sang in his heart. One morning Fawkes watched as the wizard was joined by another. They talked long into the morning. The other wizard's voice rose angrily many times, then with a glance into the woods, Fawkes felt the wizard's eyes fall on him, and he fluttered his wings, and preened nervously. The wizard turned back to the older, and nodded. Then they left.  

            Once more Fawkes was alone in his forest. The darkness was strong and deep. Then a call sang through the air, just as the darkness was at its deepest. It rang like a crystal bell. Fawkes' voice rose in song, unable to resist in joining in the joy of the rebirth of hope. 

            The time had come to take the last step.

            The wizard walked silently into the woods. He was never disturbed in these solitary jaunts. Dawn was near; he could already see the lightening of the sky. He didn't wander far into the forest. He didn't need to. 

            The phoenix joined him within moments. Landing lightly on a log nearby. Head cocked the phoenix looked at the wizard. 

            "Hello Fawkes." 

            The phoenix trilled. 

            Albus Dumbledore extended an arm, and with a low coo Fawkes spread his wings and sprang unto the wizard's arm just as dawn broke through the sky. His song rose through the still air as the sky grew light. 

            When the last note hovered in the air, bird and wizard, left the forest and returned to the castle, which welcomed them home.   


End file.
